This Kiss
by jekkah
Summary: Morgan busts Hotch and JJ in the midst of a kiss, forcing them to confront their feelings. *one shot*


_Author's Note: This is just a one shot that came to me a while ago. I was stuck in jury duty all day today (and thankfully, didn't get picked!), which allowed me to finish it after months of letting it just sit around. Hope you enjoy!_

**This Kiss**

"Where's Hotch?" Morgan asked, walking into the conference room at the local police station in East Bumford, Indiana. They were working a case involving mothers and sons where the mothers were brutally raped, beaten, and in all but one case, killed in front of their sons. The oldest boy was only six-years-old.

Reid and Blake looked up from the case files they were studying. Blake shrugged while Reid replied, "I think he's off talking to JJ somewhere."

Blake shrugged. "He did seem to be having issues with the police chief."

"And you know that JJ's the only one that can really talk him down," Reid continued before lowering his head again. He missed the confused look that Blake shot him and the smirk that Morgan did.

"Did you need Hotch for something?" Blake asked, bringing the conversation back around.

Morgan nodded. "I think we may be looking at the profile wrong. I think that instead of focusing on the mothers, we need to be focusing on the sons. I realized after talking to Joey Burke that all of the boys played at the same video arcade. Garcia's working on pulling up employees now. Could you call her and see if she's tracked those down while I go look for Hotch and JJ?"

He waited for her affirmation before leaving. Morgan searched the conference room that had been set up for their case, but found only Rossi grabbing a bite to eat. Rossi claimed to have no idea where Hotch had hidden himself. It was a street cop that was able to direct him to the hallway where Hotch was last seen.

"Hey, Hot-" Morgan stopped dead as he rounded the corner. His mouth hung open at the scene in front of him. JJ had Hotch backed against the corner, her hands on the back of his neck and her tongue intertwined with his. Hotch's hands were tightly perched on her hips, rocking her slightly into him. "Whoa!"

JJ and Hotch sprung apart, though he kept a hand on her side. JJ wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Morgan, this isn't what it looks like."

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? 'Cause it looks like you were making out with our boss in the hallway of the police station during a case."

Hotch glanced at JJ before stepping forward. "JJ was just trying to help me out."

"Yeah, it really looked like she was 'helping' you out," Morgan retorted.

"Morgan," Hotch growled, warningly.

Morgan's eyes flashed at the unvoiced reprimand. He was still in shock at having witness the two engaged in necking. "I didn't realize, JJ, that you were no longer with Will, or that you, Hotch had broken up with Beth."

JJ flushed with embarrassment and a bit of anger. "For your information, Morgan, he handed me the divorce papers last week." She ignored the stunned glances from both Morgan and Hotch. "But, irregardless, what I do is my business." With this, she stormed off.

"She was only trying to help me out, Derek," Hotch said, quietly. "This case, it was just getting to me and JJ could see that. When I got into another argument with Chief Collins, she pulled me away to distract me for a little bit."

"I take it that this isn't the first time that she's 'distracted' you this way?" Morgan questioned, determined to get to the bottom of what he had walked in on.

Hotch closed his eyes and shook his head. "It's innocent. It never goes further than a few kisses, but it allows each of us an escape from the case when things get really bad." He opened his eyes and settled his gaze on Morgan, not quite able to meet Morgan's eye. "Please don't take this away from me. Sometimes... sometimes, she is the only thing that gets me through these cases."

Morgan opened his mouth to respond, but was stopped by Reid announcing that Garcia found a suspect that fit their profile from the list of employees at the local arcade.

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"This is one case that I can't wait to leave in the dust," Rossi commented as the team shuffled into the hotel lobby looking a little worse for wear. Blake and Reid grunted in agreement. Reid had landed in a big mud puddle after tackling the unsub and was anxious to get into the shower. Rossi turned his attention to JJ, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since they got the name of the unsub. "Don't you agree, Jayje?"

"Huh?" she shook her head slightly. "Uh, yeah."

Noticing Rossi's eyes narrowing dangerously, Hotch jumped in. "Okay, everyone. The plane leaves at nine tomorrow. Meet in the lobby at seven." As expected, this produced a few grumbles from the team, but Hotch stayed firm until they headed towards the elevator. "Morgan, JJ, can you stay behind for a moment?"

Morgan nodded, but Hotch caught the annoyance in his eyes. He waited for the elevator doors to close on the others before telling Hotch, "You were right. What I walked in on was none of my business. I never should have said anything."

"Even still," Hotch insisted, "I feel like we owe you an explanation to clear the air." He glanced at JJ for confirmation, receiving a quick nod. "It started a few months after JJ joined the team. It was that case in Idaho where the unsub was the son of the mayor and one of the victims was the daughter of a city councilman. The politics and cover-ups were hindering the investigation left and right and Gideon-"

"-stepped in and made it even worse," Morgan finished. "I remember."

Hotch swallowed, pushing all thoughts of Gideon from his head. "After a particularly – trying – meeting, I stormed off into the conference room. JJ found me and..." His voice trailed off as he looked at JJ.

She stepped forward. "I hadn't seen him so frustrated before that day and rarely since then. Nothing I did or said got through to him. I was actually afraid that he'd hurt himself so I grabbed him and kissed him to stop him from pacing. I just wanted to stun him into stopping. It worked."

"Nothing else happened, Derek," Hotch promised. "It doesn't happen often; only when things are really bad." He ignored the voice in his head telling him that it had been happening more and more lately. "It's just stress relief."

"Exactly," JJ hurried to agree.

Morgan hesitated before responding, slowly. "Thanks for the explanation, but you're kidding yourselves if you think this is nothing. It if was nothing, you wouldn't have felt the need to explain anything to me. If it was nothing, JJ wouldn't be motoring around like the walking dead. If it was nothing, you wouldn't have begged me not to take her away from you." Morgan held his hands up in surrender. "Look, if you're worried that I'm going to say something, don't be. This is a private matter between the two of you. But you two really need to sort this out, especially if it's been going on for close to a decade."

Hotch waited for Morgan to leave before scoffing, "It hasn't been going on for a decade."

"Yes, it has," JJ said, her voice quiet.

"Oh," he replied. He touched her shoulder. "JJ, why didn't you tell me about Will and the divorce?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I didn't want you to think it had anything to do with this."

"And when you were dating him? When you got pregnant?"

Tears welled up in her eyes. "I guess I was afraid that you would want to stop this... whatever 'this' is."

Hotch cupped her cheeks, wiping away a single tear that had fallen with his thumb. "I didn't tell you about Beth for the same reason, when I started dating her and when we broke up."

"You broke up with Beth?" JJ asked, hope flashing through her eyes.

"Yeah. I just couldn't lie to her or to me anymore." Hotch took a deep breath. "JJ, I love you. I know I shouldn't. I know we said that we'd never let feelings get in the way, but-"

"Stop!" she commanded. She stop on her toes to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you, too."

Hotch broke out into a wide grin. "You do?"

Nodding, JJ wrapped her arms around his neck. "And I'm tired of hiding it from everyone."

Hotch moved his hands to her waist, swaying them both slightly. "So, let me get this straight: I love and you love me and neither of us wants to hide it?"

JJ arched her brow. "Sounds correct to me."

"You may have to pinch me so I know that I'm not dreaming."

"Oh, I'll pinch you," she teased, "but not in public."

He sobered. "It's going to mean a lot of changes. Not just for you and me, but for the boys and the team. We're going to have to go slow because of Henry and one of us may have to transfer."

She gave him a small, reassuring smile. "We'll muddle through it. It's worth it. _You're_ worth it."

"So are _you_," he emphasized.

"Glad we agree. But for tonight, what do you say we put all worries aside and..." She moved to his ear, whispering all of the things she intended to do to him that night.

Hotch, eyes wide, grabbed her and pulled her to the elevator. "Let's go!"

As the elevator doors closed, Rossi and Reid stepped out from around the corner. They shared an amused smirk before Rossi handed Reid a fifty dollar bill. Reid kissed the money before pocketing it.

"I told you sending Morgan to catch them would be all they needed."

"Yes, you did, my boy." Rossi clapped him on the shoulder. "And using the cop to direct him to the hallway was ingenious. I don't think I could be prouder." He leaned in conspiratorially. "So, have you heard about Morgan and Garcia?"

THE END


End file.
